Book Talk: Me and Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

     This book is literally about three people. Greg, Earl and Rachel (who is the dying girl). The book is nothing special if you think of it but the writing style is so hilarious, I sometimes suddenly just laugh aloud and people in the vicinity will think I'm crazy but that's fine.

     I thought this book was going to make me cry but it did the complete opposite. Anyway, the story is told from Greg Gaine's point of view (which is hilarious). Greg has always managed to stay under the radar in high school and he never joined any social circles because he doesn't want to be labeled as one of the people he sits with at lunch or talks to. He decided to infiltrate each and every one of the social circles and has managed to be in everyone's good graces until his mom forced him to befriend his 'exgirlfriend but not really', Rachel. Rachel has leukemia and is dying and Greg doesn't really care because according to him 'he has problems with emotion'. Fast forward to Rachel about a month away or more from dying, someone asked Greg to film something for Rachel and he and Earl started making different kinds of videos for Rachel. Greg and Earl have always done these silly little videos that they show to no one because they think they're not good enough but Earl decided to show them to Rachel with the reason that 'she is dying'. Earl is Greg's 'sort of friend' and co-direct all of his films. They've done a lot of videos about Rachel and they didn't know how to really highlight her because they don't know her that much. In the end, they decided to mush all of the videos together and show it to Rachel and according to Greg, it was the worst film that they had ever made. When Rachel died, Greg thought of the different ways that they could have done for the film and that the film was not about Rachel at all but that they just used her as a subject of a film which is really for them. 

     The book is touching despite of its hilarity and it really highlights high school students'/teenagers' problems that are rarely mentioned in books. How we struggle to cope with our studies, how some of us can never find a social circle or a group of friends that we really fit into and others more like it. The meaning hidden behind the hilarious writing is astounding if you really give thought to it (which I have). This book is extraordinary and I can honestly say that I've never read anything like it. Some of the content are not really suitable for young people (some of the words) so if you're sensitive about those things then this book isn't for you.

Cheerio and DFTBA